Hitler's Ideas in "Mein Kampf"

-Germany had not really been beaten by the allies in the war: she had been betrayed by the Jews and Communists who must therefore be destroyed

-Germans were the master race of the world: they must all be united under one leader and given whatever territory was needed for this

-The treaty of Versailles was not binding on Germany as it had been forced on her (she had no representatives at the conference) and it need not be obeyed

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Weimar 1925-1929

-Nazi party got nowhere as Germans were well-off and contented

-After Ebert died in 1925, Hindenburg became president, which boosted the republics prestige, although Ebert himself was a loss

-Stresemann introduced a series of reforms in both foreign and home affairs that strengthened Germany

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Stresemann's Foreign Affairs

-In 1925 Germany signed the Locarno pacts agreeing to respect her western boarders, though leaving the Eastern ones open for discussion

-In 1926, Germany was permitted to join the League of Nations

-In 1928, Germany and other nations signed the Kellogg Pact agreeing not to use war to achieve their goals

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Stresemann's Home Policy

-Germany borrowed 25,000 million gold marks from America.

-Money use to build roads, railways, factories...
-Economy improved greatly and led to prosperity
-Cultural life improved

-Stresemann introduced ideas to make life better for the working class

-Labour Exchanges (1927)

Unemployment pay
3 million new houses built

-He arranged a great coalition of the moderate democracy parties (based around SDP his party)
-Together they could resist criticism from smaller extremist parties and overcome effects of proportional representation (the government in Reichstag had enough members to pass laws it needed to)

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Weaknesses of Weimar

-Stresemann himself said that Germany has problems and he does not believe in his own policies

-German economy depended on prosperity, based on loans from America.
-If something happened to American economy this would have huge effect on Weimar

-When Germany's economy got back on its feet, the great coalition, organised by Stresemann, collapsed and therefore some moderate pro-democracy parties argued
-Meaning they wouldn't be strong enough to stop extremist parties challenging them

-Although Germany was in good times, some extremist politicians were not won over.
-Several nationalists still despised the Republic as the November Criminals
-They waited for opportunities to attack i.e Nazis and Communists hadn't gone away

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Hitler: Prison and After 1924-1929

-When in prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf,Chichester clarified his views about the future of Germany

-In prison, Hitler decided the Nazis would not be able to gain power by force i.e Putsches.
-This meant they needed to work inside the democratic system to achieve power
-When in power, they could destroy this system

-When he got out of prison he began rebuilding the Nazi party through democratic means
-After realising the Communists were building strength through youth organisations and recruitment drives, the Nazis began doing the same

-May 1924 Nazis fought the Reichstag elections for the first time
-Won 32 seats which encouraged Hitler and so he created a network of local Nazi parties
-These lead to the Hitler youth and the like

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A Nazi Pamphlet

Goebbels makes a list of demands:

-right of work and decent living for every working German
-a struggle against this condition of shame and misery begin
-homes for German soldiers and workers
-the land on which to grow the crops that will feed our children
-only Germans who build this state may speak
-annihilation of the system of exploitation

Anti-foreign and anti-Jewish statements

-Germany for the Germans
-The Jew lives in palaces and the front soldier lives in holes that don't deserve to be called homes

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Another Change in Direction

-1927, Nazis still trying to appeal to workers

-1928 election, Nazis gain 12 seats convincing them to look elsewhere for support

-Workers tended not to support Nazis because:

-they had supported the Social Democratic Party in every election since 1919
-they felt they were doing well in Weimar up to 1929
-workers with radical political views were more likely to support the communists

-Groups that offered support to Nazis were:

-peasant farmers
-middle-class shopkeepers
-small business people

-Peasants were not sharing economic prosperity

-Won them over by:

-highlighting the importance of them in their plans for Germany
-praising the peasants as racially pure Germans
-contrasted supposedly clean, simple life of the peasants with the corrupt, immoral cities

-1925, Hitler enlarged SA
-Set up ** (Hitlers body guards)

-Goebbels takes charge of propaganda

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A New Crisis Begins

-1929, the Young Plan for reparations reducedannual payments, but meant Germany would pay until 1988

-1929, Stresemann died, a big loss

-Wall Street Crash occurred in America
-Collapse of American stock market destroyed world economy as Americans demanded their loans back
-Resulting in the Great Depression with mass unemployment
-Germany hit badly as she relied heavily on American loans